rick
Active member
Perfect - love the double doors!
Advice for run structure please!
- Thread starter bozza
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Hi everyone, thanks for your lovely comments!! We are really pleased with the run and the chooks are now in and settling in nicely with no fuss. I will attach some photos in a moment. I will also update you on how bedtime goes as I’m pretty sure none of them have ventured into the coop (I caught a couple of them having a peep in, but none brave enough to go in yet I don’t think!), so I’m guessing I will have to put them in myself. That will be interesting as I’m not very confident at handling them yet!! Big but fun learning curve for me. We have enjoyed them so much already, some of their personality traits were evident almost straight away and they have had us in stitches! The kids have enjoyed naming a couple of them and we have spent lots of time this afternoon just watching them...who knew how relaxing it could be??!! I’ll never get anything done now. If I don’t manage to label the photos, the photo with them in transit (dog cage) is the best one to tell you their names on, so from left to right: Agnes (white Sussex), Louisa (Bluebell), Pippa (Columbia blacktail), Betty (pied Sussex) and Ruth (copper black).
Bedtime update: So, amazingly, as it started to get dark, they all started to go in to the coop. Pippa, who has so far seemed the most shy and submissive, was, by far, the most focused and only went in and came back out a couple of times. Agnes, Louisa and Betty couldn’t make their minds up for a good 20-30 mins but eventually went in and didn’t come back out. Ruth, on the other hand, didn’t show much interest in the coop and after a while flew on to the top of the coop. It’s a domed recycled plastic roof, so not very roost-conducive!! She flew down and then surprised us by flying up into the rafters. She looked a bit like she regretted her decision and kept looking like she wanted to get down. I helped her down and then she just looked like she wanted to go back up again. I didn’t know whether to leave her, as it’s clear she was following her instincts and wanted to be up high, bless her. I’m not sure if I did the wrong thing but I eventually scooped her up and put her in the coop with the others and shut the pop hole door. Once they’re settled and established in to a routine I will leave the pop hole open but I wanted them to know that that’s where they go to bed. Hope I did the right thing...
bigyetiman
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They look lovely, just like our assortment.
Our latest lot when we got them last August were a bit clueless as to going to bed in the coop. First night I picked them up and put them in, next night 4 went in, 7 on top of coop, put them in, 3rd 7 went, 3 had to be put in. 4th night all went in on their own.
They soon get the hang of it, and realise a coop is nice and snug and safe.
Looking forward to updates, and when morehensdisease strikes :lol: :lol: :lol:
Our latest lot when we got them last August were a bit clueless as to going to bed in the coop. First night I picked them up and put them in, next night 4 went in, 7 on top of coop, put them in, 3rd 7 went, 3 had to be put in. 4th night all went in on their own.
They soon get the hang of it, and realise a coop is nice and snug and safe.
Looking forward to updates, and when morehensdisease strikes :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ahh, thank you big yeti man!! I seem to think I’ve read threads on here relating to tales of bedtime confusion, so it makes me feel better that others have had the same experiences! Fingers crossed tomorrow night will be smoother although apart from Ruth I was quite proud of them!!
Lovely picture!
When you look inside the coop after roosting time, it's good to check whether anyone is sitting on the floor or in the nest boxes, and if so, lift them on to a perch. This is easy once they've gone to sleep, they won't panic. Pullets are usually raised in barns and may not have experienced perches before. Getting them trained to perch from the start saves a lot of problems and dirty nest boxes later on.
When you look inside the coop after roosting time, it's good to check whether anyone is sitting on the floor or in the nest boxes, and if so, lift them on to a perch. This is easy once they've gone to sleep, they won't panic. Pullets are usually raised in barns and may not have experienced perches before. Getting them trained to perch from the start saves a lot of problems and dirty nest boxes later on.
rick
Active member
It takes a while to settle in and more might find the rafters tempting along the way but you have a secure run so you have the luxury of letting them get to know each other in their own time and dont have to have them all in the coop as it is safe enough anywhere (except the nest box - safe but not a good place to sleep!) Your car looks like a space ship - especially at that angle 
Thank you Rick and Marigold!! Latest update: Firstly, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! They are very funny and always happy to see me. And in all if this Covid madness they are a lovely source of calm and sanity with all the uncertainty and stress at work. I am so grateful to come home to them. Pecking order is starting to be established now they are settling in...that’s interesting but there’s lots of room and things to do so the only squabbling seems to surround exciting food so I make sure to always have two offerings to split them up a bit! Night times: I have trained them all to perch at night. Last two nights I’ve not had to block off the nesting boxes and they’ve stayed out. Ruth’s high perching adventures were a one off once she discovered the perches in the coop. If she wants to do it in the summer if it gets too hot at least I can let her as my run is nice and safe. And today we got our first, very small but perfect egg. My daughter is off school and has been going in to see them, poo pick and give them the odd bit of treat. She thinks it was the bluebell, Louisa. I had a feeling she might be coming into lay as she was easily crouching even if my hand was only slightly outstretched near her. She’d also been sizing up the nesting boxes at the weekend as she was going in and out of the coop during the day. Agnes is doing it too so I’m guessing she might be next. I will attach the photo of the lovely egg! It made what has been a tough day a very lovely day!! 
How lovely. You just got them sorted in time didn't you - well worth all that hard work. First eggs are always exciting - who will get to eat it? Will everybody else sit round watching?
Tweetypie
Member
Hi Bozza, I remember when I got my first 2 hens how excited I was the next morning to see that first egg!! I then became mildly obsessed by keeping a diary on the weight of each egg my hens had laid (I've 4 now). I even know which hen has laid which egg. My husband thinks I am nuts! 
It sounds like you're eggstatic about your new additions, they really do make quirky pets, in addtion to providing us with yummy eggs.
It sounds like you're eggstatic about your new additions, they really do make quirky pets, in addtion to providing us with yummy eggs.
Hi Tweety Pie and Marigold - yes, it seems I DID get them in time. The place I got them from were sold out by the following weekend, unheard of at this time of year. You don’t realise how daft folk are until something like this, do you? It’s quite worrying as places are selling out of feed, feeders and all sorts. Well, the first lot of eggs were eaten by me (don’t think anyone else wanted to deprive me of them to be honest!). They were small but yummy! I’m so enjoying having them. In these funny times they are getting me up and out nice and early and give my mind a bit of a break from CV stuff and all the changes at work. The timing was immaculate! I do hope you lovely lot are all weather this storm well!!
bigyetiman
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Glad you got the hens in time, and you are being rewarded with eggs, they are a real oasis of calm I find, until they trip you up, or hide somewhere, then once you have really begun to despair stroll back into view quite casually
PageMossFarm
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Wow! That run is amazing Bozza! Fancy building one in my garden?! I’m at the point of sketching ideas on bits of paper still but I think I’m ready to start clearing the ground now 17
17Hi everyone
A bit of a palaver to register but I got here in the end thanks to Tim
We unfortunately/fortunately got that chicken disease 'more hens' and while we started with 4 back in 2017 we are now at 10 and a half - we were gifted a little banty called half pint. So I need a bigger run, probably a coop as well but run is the priority for the moment - while they free range our quite large garden I am aware that should the really dreaded Avian flu reach us they would need kept in securely away from wild birds. I still plan once the coop is up and running to fence off part of the garden and still let them free range but it would also give my flower borders a chance. I really fancy one like Bozza made.
If I run 1/2 inch galvanised wire along the floor of the proposed coop - should I allow for an overlap of say a foot round the perimeter of the coop, to protect against predators digging or as I read others doing which is to bring the wire up on the inside to join the wire on the walls of the coop, effectively making a wire box? The coop would be set on sleepers. Would it not be less time consuming to just do an overlap rather than knit the floor to the walls? Any other advice would be gratefully received. Thanks
A bit of a palaver to register but I got here in the end thanks to Tim
We unfortunately/fortunately got that chicken disease 'more hens' and while we started with 4 back in 2017 we are now at 10 and a half - we were gifted a little banty called half pint. So I need a bigger run, probably a coop as well but run is the priority for the moment - while they free range our quite large garden I am aware that should the really dreaded Avian flu reach us they would need kept in securely away from wild birds. I still plan once the coop is up and running to fence off part of the garden and still let them free range but it would also give my flower borders a chance. I really fancy one like Bozza made.
If I run 1/2 inch galvanised wire along the floor of the proposed coop - should I allow for an overlap of say a foot round the perimeter of the coop, to protect against predators digging or as I read others doing which is to bring the wire up on the inside to join the wire on the walls of the coop, effectively making a wire box? The coop would be set on sleepers. Would it not be less time consuming to just do an overlap rather than knit the floor to the walls? Any other advice would be gratefully received. Thanks
bigyetiman
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Hi, and welcome to the forum.
Morehens disease, you can't avoid it :lol:
We inherited the runs and coops when we moved in and they have just over a foot wide skirt around the edge with paving slabs around the edges, and at one end it had been grassed over. That has worked ok for us. Ours are mostly free ranging except for when we are out, or flockdown looms due to Avian flu
Morehens disease, you can't avoid it :lol:
We inherited the runs and coops when we moved in and they have just over a foot wide skirt around the edge with paving slabs around the edges, and at one end it had been grassed over. That has worked ok for us. Ours are mostly free ranging except for when we are out, or flockdown looms due to Avian flu
Hi Liz, and welcome.
By the overlap option, do you mean that you intend covering the floor of the run with 1/2” galvanised mesh and then extending this to cover the ground round the perimeter of the run outside the walls? It might possibly be less time consuming to go for this option, but I don’t think it would be so secure in the long run, as in time the mesh might bend, the ground might shift a bit, and there will always be the chance that rats will be able to tunnel in between the top of the mesh and the bottom of the sides. And also you’re stuck forever with a border of mesh round the outside edges of the run, taking up space that can’t be used for anything else, and possibly becoming a trip hazard in time. If you can simply bend the mesh up about 20-30 cms at the edges and fix it to the insides, you will have a much neater and more secure solution. You can fix it quite easily and strongly to the sides if you get lots of short cable ties and simply thread them tightly through both pieces of mesh about 20-25cms apart, which will hold the mesh firmly in place and in shape. Or with two people on the job, you can join it by ‘sewing’ the mesh together with lengths of soft garden wire, passed back and forwards between you to make big ‘stitches’ , which is how I did mine and it’s been fine for 14 years now. Not difficult.
I think that avian flu is still with us this year at the moment - you might like to check the thread in the Chickens Health section - there’s a lot in the news about large numbers of wildfowl and swans having to be put down on nature reserves etc. So our flocks should still be under cover at this time. I’m glad you’re planning with this in mind as I’m sure it’ll be with us for the foreseeable future. See http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11398&start=30
Good luck with the new project, and do keep us in touch with how you get on.
By the overlap option, do you mean that you intend covering the floor of the run with 1/2” galvanised mesh and then extending this to cover the ground round the perimeter of the run outside the walls? It might possibly be less time consuming to go for this option, but I don’t think it would be so secure in the long run, as in time the mesh might bend, the ground might shift a bit, and there will always be the chance that rats will be able to tunnel in between the top of the mesh and the bottom of the sides. And also you’re stuck forever with a border of mesh round the outside edges of the run, taking up space that can’t be used for anything else, and possibly becoming a trip hazard in time. If you can simply bend the mesh up about 20-30 cms at the edges and fix it to the insides, you will have a much neater and more secure solution. You can fix it quite easily and strongly to the sides if you get lots of short cable ties and simply thread them tightly through both pieces of mesh about 20-25cms apart, which will hold the mesh firmly in place and in shape. Or with two people on the job, you can join it by ‘sewing’ the mesh together with lengths of soft garden wire, passed back and forwards between you to make big ‘stitches’ , which is how I did mine and it’s been fine for 14 years now. Not difficult.
I think that avian flu is still with us this year at the moment - you might like to check the thread in the Chickens Health section - there’s a lot in the news about large numbers of wildfowl and swans having to be put down on nature reserves etc. So our flocks should still be under cover at this time. I’m glad you’re planning with this in mind as I’m sure it’ll be with us for the foreseeable future. See http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11398&start=30
Good luck with the new project, and do keep us in touch with how you get on.
Thank you bigyetiman and marigold.
Hmmm Marigold, good point. I was probably thinking bigger predators, forgetting mice and rats could maybe squeeze in any gaps under the sleepers if ground was at all uneven so may go with your expertise. Would 1/2 inch keep mice out? Thanks
Hmmm Marigold, good point. I was probably thinking bigger predators, forgetting mice and rats could maybe squeeze in any gaps under the sleepers if ground was at all uneven so may go with your expertise. Would 1/2 inch keep mice out? Thanks
Hi Liz, yes mice and rats are a very common problem in chicken runs. If they get in they will eat the food and contaminate the water, and of course eat the eggs, so if you’re going to put mesh down anyway it’s worth sealing it to the sides, I think. I found that when there was an outbreak of rats under my neighbour’s shed, they did tunnel under the mesh but it stayed intact and they couldn’t get up into the run itself. I poured gravel through the mesh to fill the tunnels and replaced the membrane over the top and it’s been OK since. I expect mice could get through 1/2” mesh but I haven’t noticed any, and anyway it’s the rats you really want to exclude if possible.
You’ll need metal tent pegs to fix the membrane down round the sides as the plastic pegs sold for this purpose on open ground are too big to go through the mesh. Try eBay, not very expensive.
Take the mesh well up the wooden posts as well, to future-proof it against this problem I had recently http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11291
You’ll need metal tent pegs to fix the membrane down round the sides as the plastic pegs sold for this purpose on open ground are too big to go through the mesh. Try eBay, not very expensive.
Take the mesh well up the wooden posts as well, to future-proof it against this problem I had recently http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11291
Hi
Would someone advise if my intended run of 5m x 5m would be big enough for my 10 hens and 1 banty. If 1 hen needs 2 sq m, 11 would need 22 sq meters - 5m x 5m would give me 25 sq meters - am I correct in my thinking? Their coop, water, and feed will also be in the run.
I have a guy coming this weekend to give me a quote - on my wish list is 1/2" galvanised wire all round including the floor with it brought up 30 cms on the insides (thanks Marigold). Windbreaks, probably clear plastic will be added to 2 at least of the side/corners at the front. Perches will be added. Stable type split door (but wide enough for a wheel barrow) so the bottom can be opened to let them free range in the garden without opening the full door. Probably an apex roof with corrugated plastic with gutters and down spouts and we can collect the rain water. I thought of using sleepers for the base for the walls? Membrane over the wire on the floor and an aubiose type material used as the litter.
Is there anything I should be considering, haven't thought of or should change? This is a big investment and I want to get it right.
Thanks Liz
Would someone advise if my intended run of 5m x 5m would be big enough for my 10 hens and 1 banty. If 1 hen needs 2 sq m, 11 would need 22 sq meters - 5m x 5m would give me 25 sq meters - am I correct in my thinking? Their coop, water, and feed will also be in the run.
I have a guy coming this weekend to give me a quote - on my wish list is 1/2" galvanised wire all round including the floor with it brought up 30 cms on the insides (thanks Marigold). Windbreaks, probably clear plastic will be added to 2 at least of the side/corners at the front. Perches will be added. Stable type split door (but wide enough for a wheel barrow) so the bottom can be opened to let them free range in the garden without opening the full door. Probably an apex roof with corrugated plastic with gutters and down spouts and we can collect the rain water. I thought of using sleepers for the base for the walls? Membrane over the wire on the floor and an aubiose type material used as the litter.
Is there anything I should be considering, haven't thought of or should change? This is a big investment and I want to get it right.
Thanks Liz